Kodi has told customers complaining that their box “no longer works” that a number of websites have now shut down their services.

In May, The Digital Economy Act was passed into law, meaning that users now face up to a decade behind bars for illegally streaming copyrighted content.

Despite being perfectly legal itself, some customers use the software to illegally access copyright content through third-party add-ons.

The new law targets developers who built these add-ons, but technically anyone streaming the illegal content is now punishable by the law. In a new blog post, Kodi have said that many websites and repositories promoting add-ons using pirated media content have now shut down their services.

TVaddons library has recently gone offline as well as popular Kodi add-on Phoenix, which provided access to TV shows, films and sport channels.

This comes in the wake of recent legal action against some websites but has led many users to complain that their “Kodi Box” is no longer working.

Kodi has slammed individuals selling media players which come pre-loaded with these add-ons, known as “fully loaded Kodi boxes”.

Despite saying they will not police its own software, Kodi said it has no sympathy for users who are now seeing these illegal add-ons disappear.

A spokesperson said: “Team Kodi (the unpaid volunteers who create Kodi and manage the Kodi name/brand for love not money) have never manufactured a “Kodi Box” and we do not supply media content.

“People who have been selling “Fully Loaded” devices on Amazon, eBay, Facebook, etc. or provide “IPTV Streaming” services with impossibly $cheap subscriptions to improbably $large selections of Movies, TV shows, Live Sports, etc. are not affiliated with the Kodi project. They are criminals who profit from piracy.

“If you post in our forums or social channels about a pirate add-on or streaming service not working please expect ZERO sympathy or support. We don’t care. We care less than not caring. We don’t care biggly.

“And to counter a popular comment; if the Kodi userbase drops a huge percentage because pirate services flee or die, we’re fine with that. Kodi has been around since 2002 and we are not going to implode or disappear (unlike the pirates).

“Life will be a little quieter, but less time spent on self-entitled whiny people means more time writing great code and having fun. We’re okay with that too.”